The Dutch bottle was important to the Transatlantic Slave Trade. From the late-18th century, Dutch gin, transported in cheaply-manufactured blown glass bottles, was employed as a trade good. The shape made the bottles easy to pack and transport. Along with textiles, rifles and gunpowder, it was one of the most sought-after European goods.
Dutch gin, textiles, and both worked and unworked copper and iron, were the most popular European goods sold to coastal traders in Africa during the transatlantic slave trade, and in return, Europeans brought home ivory, textiles, spices, and gum.
The transatlantic slave trade began in the 16th century and spanned until the 19th century, though the Dutch were not initially involved until the 17th century. The Dutch shipped slaves from Africa, primarily operating along the Gold Coast (modern day Ghana), to Dutch colonies in North American, and to Brazil (a Portuguese colony), eventually dominating trade with the Spanish colonies in the New World.
Liquor was a highly important aspect of this complex trade network. A vast amount of European liquor was imported into Africa. Rum initially dominated, but gin gained prominence during the second half of the 19th century. The extent of European alcohol importation to Africa was so pervasive that during the first decade of the 20th century alcoholic imports of primarily Dutch gin reached 3 million gallons annually, which touts the necessity for rapidly and vastly produced case bottles.
Alcohol was in high demand in West Africa for the trade of other goods. This is important because European alcohol was critically tied to the transatlantic slave trade through its permeation into local African culture. Liquor was required for multiple rituals in West Africa, such as marriages, burials, and initiations, or as gift items.
Local alcohol such as palm wine had been used, but when European alcohol was introduced into the local ritual culture, it became popular in due to its comparative strength. This infiltration of foreign alcohol into local culture allowed transatlantic trade to prosper, through fostering relationships between the indigenous people and the European foreigners, as well as making imported alcohol a necessity for local rituals.
From its inception, colonialism functioned as a gateway for the transformation of ritual and social alcohol use in West Africa. For one, social sharing of alcohol between the indigenous population and Europeans was a way of fostering social and economic ties between the two groups. In a practice called dassie, alcohol was given to locals by the Europeans both for work, sex, or to strengthen existing relationships.
At the most basic level, European alcohol was demanded to such an extent in West Africa, that by the end of the 18th century its appeal on the market was inferior only to textiles. A deeper investigation shows that this demand had morphed from consumer interest to a key component in the way the transatlantic slave trade functioned. The facilitation of trade in West Africa by Europeans on the initial model of “alcohol for slaves,” entrenched the necessity for European alcohol as a trade good, even after the slave trade ended.
Source: internet
